The Golden Egg mod thread. Mostly minivan modding

[Whoops]

The Ford looks like it is in pretty outstanding condition, for being outside in the weather, up there.

With the irregularity of your driving, you will probably be able to get a better feel for how much the mods are improving your mileage. The mods look pretty darn good, at least compared to mine.

I didn't see any duct tape at all, although here at Ecomodders it is a generally well considered thought that any color of duct tape adds profoundly to the significant improvement of your mileage. You can generally use any color, stick the tape anywere on the car, the more obviously out of place the better.

It does sound like the van would be a great electric vehicle platform. Another consideration might be to make it a hybrid, using the existing engine for the gas drive and putting an electric motor, with a front wheel drive module on the front.

Popsicle 50/50 orange would be a bright color to paint it. The only thing to be aware of is that it will highly profile any exceptions to a perfect body underneath, where seafoam green would tend to blend them in better, to the eye.

Looks Good.

[orange4boy]

Don't you dare!

We were toying with the idea of electrifying the Meteor but it's too heavy and we don't really want to modify it. The only ecomods I would do are sets of moon discs and wheel skirts which would look sweet.

It's been in my honey's family since new.

Interestingly I found a few Popular Mechanics mags from the same year. In a poll of what readers wanted most from Detriot: Top of the list was better fuel economy. Detroit: 50 years of not giving customers what they want. Wait. 80 years? Oh well, NOW they are going to give us better MPG. Right? Right.

I didn't see any duct tape at all, although here at Ecomodders it is a generally well considered thought that any color of duct tape adds profoundly to the significant improvement of your mileage.

Too True. Must be why I have not cracked 40MPG. Next Mod: Duct tape something! Duct tape belly pan?

[Big Dave]

It does look good.

Minivans are a class of vehicle that needs a MPG champion.

[almightybmw]

Good news! the 4WD model gets you 20mpg highway, instead of 24mpg (EPA). So in the long run, this will be cheaper. I've been on the lookout for a manual 4WD Previa, with the intent of swapping in the diesel motor. It's a crazy idea if you're up for it. I don't know if the gas and diesel transmissions are interchangable however.

I guess since you use this quite often that isn't a practical idea. Plus the motor is really hard to find, and around $800-1200. The supercharged 2.4L is much easier to find..
.....just the motor enthusiast in me rambling on.....
I'm rooting for you, I love the Previas.

[orange4boy]

Someone at another forum suggested the diesel. I even watched a video of one running on a shop floor somewhere. Would be nice but if I'm going to spend that kind of money, I'll do an Egg Van-Forken. Swapping a Previa motor by myself would probably require a spine swap as well.

Tomorrow I'll do a highway only run to see if these skirts have made any MPG impact. I can't be as scientific as the metro boys but if my average keeps going up I'm happy.

Ciao.

[orange4boy]

Threw this together after reading Millenniumtree's PVC canister thread.

I had this stainless tank sitting around that I picked up at a garage sale a couple years ago. I think it was a pressure pot for a spray gun. Built like a tank but light weight, it's new purpose became clear after reading the thread. I only had a hour to do it but I had all the parts so I figured It should be possible.

Barbed fitting 1/4 ID hose 1/4 inch NPT thread
Plastic tee 1/4 inch ID
2 Hose clamps


I think I will be able to EOC down Pikes Peak with this baby.

You can see where I installed the tee, just after the check valve.

It just fits snugly over the battery.

Future additions:
Vac gauge for safety.
Quick disconnect for battery and maintenance access.
Brass tee.

First day testing went very well. I have not run it out yet after many pumps. No numbers yet though.

[almightybmw]

Nice. Does the auto care about EOC? I know my trans will kill itself if I shut the motor off for extended distances or speeds. No fluid movement, heats the diff up and boom.

[orange4boy]

I'm sure there's a mechanic out there who would try to convince me otherwise (and it would take a detailed explanation to convince me) but I believe it would take a long time for the bearings in a transmission to run dry. This is the only damage that I know of that can happen to an auto transmission in EOC. I think this idea of auto transmission damage comes from towing. Those motorhomes you see towing a car over long distances could cause the bearings to heat up, dry out and cease. The differential is indifferent (ahem) to this effect because there is an oil bath and nothing more. No pumps reliant on the engine. There might be damage to the diff and U-joints from the different RPMs of the engine and diff at road speed when put back into gear after EOC but you can mitigate this with a tach by revving the engine to the correct rpm for the gear.

I'm not an engineer but this is what I believe from my own understanding of lubrication. There is this idea that if your oil light comes on your engine will "blow up" (cease) instantly but I have witnessed engines run for hours with no oil going through the oil pump. In certain circumstances like drag racing where the engine is at maximum output and all the parts are under extreme pressure catastrophic failure might happen if oil pressure goes south.

Having said all this, you would be wise to make absolutely sure with your own vehicle so you don't blame me later if your tranny bites it while EOCing. Plus, I don't actually do it if anyone asks. This is all theory, you understand...

Added: I just realized you may be talking about a front wheel drive unit which has a built in differential so all bets are off there although I still believe the seconds of power off involved in EOC are trivial to wear in the drivetrain. RPM differential is another issue.

[MetroMPG]

How did I miss this thread.

Interesting mods, well done & described with flair!

Subscribed.

[orange4boy]

Coming soon...

Giant corolpast airdam-o-rama

It's late and I'm damming. Pics tomorrow cause my honey will be damming me if I don't get to bed soon!

Welcome to the thread, metroMPG!